Rusty Peters

Rusty Peters was born south-west of Turkey Creek in the Kimberley on Springvale Station. His ‘bush’ name, Dirrji, refers to Dingo pups looking out of a hole at the surnrise. His conception spirit came from a crocodile his father had killed. As a young man he learnt traditional law while working as a stockman. After his father was tragically killed in a riding accident his family moved to another station called Mabel Downs where he became a famous horsebreaker.

After the introduction of award wages and the subsequent displacement of large numbers of Aboriginal people off stations, Rusty moved to Turkey Creek where he helped to start the local school, along with fellow artists Hector Jandany and George Mung Mung. He was also active in helping to preserve Aboriginal culture by taking groups of boys bush and showing them how to make spears and hunt, and how to make a camp without matches or blankets. He also worked in the Kija language maintenance program.

In 1989 he moved to Kununurra where he took up painting after he had spent time occasionaly assisting that community’s most famous artist Rover Thomas. Rusty often depicts the creation ancestors in the classic symbolic Turkey Creek minimalist style, however, the intricate curves which map the country and the dark caves and rivers are particular to his work. Each work contains an assured and personal view of the Kimberley landscape.
Subject & Themes
Owlet, nightjar dreaming, Warloo country.